The U.S. Justice Department said three men were indicted Monday for their role in conspiring to illegally export goods and technology from the United States to support Hizballah in Lebanon. Hizballah is designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist group. According to the Justice Department, the illegal exports were attempted from 2009 to 2013 by Usama Darwich Hamade, 53, Samir Ahmed Berro, 64, and Issam Darwich Hamade, 55, in violation of the International...

The U.S. Transportation Department’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a $63,750 civil penalty against J&J Tech Group of Miami for allegedly violating federal hazardous materials transportation rules. The FAA alleges that on Feb. 22, 2017, two passengers affiliated with the company, who were flying on board an American Airlines flight from Miami to Buenos Aires, offered three checked bags containing “hundreds” of lithium ion batteries. According...

The United States and United Kingdom are blaming the Russian government for the June 2017 NotPetya cyber attack. The governments of the United States and United Kingdom have accused the Russian government and its military of perpetrating the "most destructive and costly cyber-attack in history.” In separate but similar statements, the White House and the U.K. government yesterday condemned the Russian government for carrying out the June 2017 NotPetya cyber attack that affected...

The Trump administration on Monday requested $47.5 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for fiscal 2019, a $3.5 billion increase over what it had requested for FY 2018, according to DHS. “The President’s budget invests in securing our physical and maritime borders, enforcing our immigration laws, and advancing cybersecurity and aviation security to safeguard Americans from those who seek to do us harm,” DHS said. DHS is prop...

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen discussed Monday with Canadian Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister Ralph Goodale how their countries can expand preclearance to facilitate lawful trade and travel across the northern border, the Department of Homeland Security said in a press release. The meeting was “a continuation” of discussions held during an October meeting between Goodale and then-Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke. ...

German business associations say they are fed up with an increase of cargo thefts throughout Germany and have launched a joint initiative to fight back. The 13 associations, led by the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA), estimate that as much as $1.6 billion in goods are now stolen during transit across Germany each year. According to the associations’ analysis, physical cargo carried onboard about 26,000 trucks is stolen in Germany every year, averagin...

The Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will host a hearing Feb. 15 on positive train control (PTC) implementation. The committee will hear from various groups and organizations, including Amtrak, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), private rail operators, public transit officials and labor, said U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., who chairs the subco...

Cargo Network Services (CNS), the U.S. subsidiary of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has selected 40-year air cargo industry veteran, Michael White, to serve as president. In this role, White will be responsible for the Miami-based organization’s operations, including financial settlements, commercial operations and advocacy for its member airlines and freight forwarder customers. White joined CNS in 2008, and most recently served as vice presid...

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added five more North Korean shipping companies and their vessels to its growing sanctions list. These shipping companies have been involved in various illicit schemes to transport raw materials and other goods into and out of North Korea in violation of UN and U.S. sanctions. The latest companies and their vessels join a dozen others and scores of cargo vessels sanctioned by OFAC late last year. &...

A Plano, Texas resident was sentenced by a U.S. district judge this week to 46 months in jail for his role in conspiring to smuggle and illegally export hardened integrated circuits to China and Russia. In addition, the court sentenced Peter Zuccarelli, 62, to three years supervised release and a $50,000 fine. The circuits, which were exported in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), were destined for Chinese and Russian space program...

Cargo originating in five Middle Eastern countries will undergo additional screening per a new set of rules set out by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the agency told American Shipper. The U.S. government shutdown over the weekend and into Monday meant that no formal written statement has been published on the TSA's website. However, officials told reporters that the decision to implement new cargo screening rules was based on intelligence indicating ...

The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday that two individuals, Yi-Chi Shih and Kiet Ahn Mai, were arrested on Jan. 19 and subsequently charged with illegally obtaining technology and integrated circuits with military applications that were exported to a Chinese company without the required U.S. export license. Sixty-two-year-old Shih is an electrical engineer who is a part-time Los Angeles resident and a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Taiwan, while Mai, 63, who resides...

President Donald Trump signed the International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting Incoming Contraband with Technology (INTERDICT) Act into law last Wednesday. The law requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection to increase the number of chemical screening devices available to officers in order to seize opioids illegally imported into the U.S., the White House announced. The House voted to pass the bill on Oct. 24, 2017, and the Senate used an exp...

Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., urged Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Tuesday to support a bill that would make the U.S. postmaster-general the consignee for goods, excluding documents, mailed into the United States. During a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing for the Department of Homeland Security, Nielsen told Klobuchar that DHS is working with the U.S. Postal Service to ensure “we can, in fact, implement” the Synthetics...

The Port of Seattle is instituting a new port-wide strategy to combat human trafficking through its facilities, including Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the port announced Wednesday, coinciding with January’s status as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The Seattle Port Commission passed a resolution during its Tuesday meeting that calls for a combination of training, resources, policies and partnerships to address the issue. “Once full...

The owner of a San Francisco Bay Area shipping company has pleaded guilty to illegally transporting hazardous materials and failing to properly declare imports of toxic substances, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed Monday. On Dec. 20, 2017, Peiwen Zhou, the owner of Union City, Calif.-based AK Scientific, Inc., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. He had been indicted by a federal grand jury i...

The State Department has added Abukar Ali Adan, Muhammad al-Ghazali and Wanas al-Faqih to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists . “Global Terrorist” designations include prohibitions against knowingly providing (or attempting or conspiring to provide) material support or resources to, or engaging in transactions with the individuals, according to the State Department. The designations also freeze all property and interests of the individuals in the Unit...

A years-long drive by New Jersey lawmakers to pull the state out of a six-decade-old agency that fights organized crime and racketeering on the waterfront has come to a head, as state Senate and Assembly votes on whether to approve legislation withdrawing the state from the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor are scheduled for Fri., Jan. 5. Created in 1953, the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor is a bistate agency that is run in conjunction with the state of New...

The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Port Administration (MDOT MPA) received over $1.18 million in grants through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) federal port security grant program to improve security initiatives at the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore’s public marine terminals, MPA announced on Tuesday. The funding is for three separate projects: cybersecurity, technology upgrades, and updating the facility security plan for the port’s ...

The U.S. Transportation Department’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a $1.1 million civil penalty against Sarasota, Fla.-based Braille Battery for alleged violations of the country’s hazardous materials transportation regulations. This is the largest civil penalty that the FAA has proposed for alleged illegal air transport of lithium batteries. The FAA alleged that on June 1, 2016, Braille offered four shipments, each containing a 24-volt lithium...

Newly appointed Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced today the formation of new office within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that will focus on keeping weapons of mass destruction and their components out of the hands of terrorist groups and rogue nations. The Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Office consolidates DHS activities related to controlling these weapons. It will also provide stronger policy coordination and long-range planning,...

Beam Bros Trucking, Inc. (BBT), its holding company, Beam Bros Holding Corp. LLC (Beam Holding), and four of its corporate officers were all sentenced in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg on Nov. 28 for violating Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations. Based out of Mount Crawford, Va., BBT was one of the nation’s largest contract carriers of mail for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). BBT and ...

San Diego-based TuSimple, an autonomous trucking company, has raised $55 million in a Series C funding round led by Composite Capital, with participation from existing investors Sina and ZP Capital, TuSimple revealed Tuesday. The company’s previous investors include artificial intelligence computing giant NVIDIA. Founded in 2015, TuSimple is working to establish the first commercially deployable autonomous trucking platform with Level 4 SAE standards of safety. The ...

The world is full of hungry pests and noxious weeds that if left unchecked could quickly decimate the nation’s agricultural crops and forests. Standing in the way of these tiny invaders at U.S. land, sea and airports, however, is a group of specially trained Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers ready to stop them in their tracks. They are the agency’s agriculture specialists. Armed with real-time pest-related product and shipment origin intelligence from the...

A Decatur, Ga.-based freight shipping and trucking company has been ordered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to cease all operations following a fatal freeway accident allegedly caused by one of the company’s co-owners. Keep On Trucking, LLC was directed to immediately cease all interstate and intrastate operations last week after a federal investigation found the company to pose “an imminent hazard to public safety,” the FMCSA said. Keep On Trucking, w...

A total of 160 thefts of cargo occurred in the United States during the third quarter of the year, with 57 of the incidents occurring in July, 56 in August and 47 in September, according to a new analysis by Sensitech United Technologies, the firm formerly known as FreightWatch Intl. The average loss value per incident during the quarter fell 17 percent from second quarter 2017 to $117,137 amid a 24 percent increase volume. Compared to the same quarter in 2016, the figures...

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee during a rare field visit at the Port of Los Angeles this week called for more funding for port security, in contrast to the Trump Administration’s plans to cut such spending in the upcoming budget. During the bipartisan Oct. 30 hearing, the committee received testimony regarding port security from representatives of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Los Angeles and Long Beach...

Texas-based transportation security technology company Overhaul on Oct. 10 launched the latest in a suite of risk management solutions geared to shippers of premium cargo, tool to provide cargo theft task forces from around the United States with instant access to data on an in-progress incident. Overhaul says that Law Enforcement Connect, or LE Connect, can transfer critical shipment information directly from victimized drivers and/or shippers to law enforcement officials. Driv...

A former employee of Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) has been convicted of causing intentional damage to the railroad’s computer system, according to a statement from the U.S. Justice Department. Christopher Victor Grupe, 46, of Minneapolis was first charged on April 11 with one count of intentional damage to a protected computer, and on Oct. 6, following a five-day trial, was found guilty by a federal jury in Minneapolis. A sentencing date has not been set. Grup...

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has completed the integration of its Cargo-XML messaging standard with the World Customs Organization’s (WCO) Cargo Targeting System (CTS), IATA said in a statement. Cargo-XML’s integration with WCO CTS will allow airlines and customs administrations to more efficiently communicate and evaluate safety and security risks associated with air cargo, according to the association. "Simplifying processes, enhancing effic...

The number of fatalities involving large trucks in the United States increased 5.4 percent in 2016 compared with the prior year to 4,317 fatalities, according to a recent report from the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Of those fatalities, 16.7 percent were occupants of large trucks, 10.8 percent were non-occupants, and 72.4 percent were occupants of other vehicles. In total, there were 37,461 people killed in c...

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article highlighting the challenges the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) face with regard to the dangers of un- or under-regulated mail. To piggyback off of that excellent introduction to the subject, the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) would like to note one of the most underappreciated actors when it comes to homeland security and consumer defense: the customs broker. &nb...

The on-demand transportation management software provider MercuryGate has established an agreement with cloud-based global trade management software provider Integration Point that will allow MercuryGate users to access Integration Point’s denied party screening tool, MercuryGate said in a statement Tuesday. “There are many benefits to integrating GTM capabilities with TMS systems,” Tom Barnes, CEO of Integration Point, said in a statement. “GTM and TMS enables organizations to ...

Congressional Democrats introduced legislation on Thursday that would require the U.S. Department of Transportation to test train and commercial vehicle operators for sleep disorders, like sleep apnea. The legislation was introduced in the Senate ( S. 1883 ) by Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J.; and cosponsored by Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; and Robert Menendez, D-N.J. An identical bill was also introduced in the House ( H.R. 3882 ) by Rep. Bill Pascrell...

Hurricane Maria is currently making its way through the Caribbean Sea as a category 4 hurricane. As of 11:00 a.m. eastern standard time, Hurricane Maria was 15 miles ESE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. It was moving northwest at 12 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. Effective 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Captain of the Port (COTP) San Juan, Capt. Eric King...

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) over the weekend established a temporary regulated navigation area and temporary safety zone for waters within the Florida Keys due to ocean dangers in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. For the next two weeks, vessels are prohibited from “entering into, anchoring, loitering, or movement within a safety zone of 25 yards around law enforcement vessels, salvage vessels, or visible wreckage” in the Florida Keys, according to the USCG. “These ...

The Port of Oakland will use $1.8 million in newly awarded federal Port Security Grant Program funding to help implement two new port security projects, including the creation of an emergency operations center, the port said Sept. 14. The security initiatives, according to the port, include the upgrading of its port truck management system to “heighten awareness” of the large commercial vehicles entering and exiting Oakland marine terminals and the development of a multi-agency...

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) this week imposed a $400,000 civil penalty against Barrington, N.J.-based Bright Lights USA for exports of unauthorized defense components and technical data in violation of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The company, which has been in business with the Defense Department since 1992 and is headed by Daniel A. Farber, manufactures and distributes spare parts, such as rubber stoppers and sea...

FEMA awarded the Port of Galveston funds for enhanced port security and preparedness against terrorist attacks. The Port of Galveston has received a $1 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support improvements in port security, the port announced. The grant was awarded through the 2017 Port Security Grant Program (PSGP), administered by FEMA, to fund two projects. The first project expands the port's fiber infrastructur...

President Donald Trump has nominated Howard “Skip” Elliott to head the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the administration announced Monday. Trump’s nomination must now be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Elliott held the position of vice president of public safety, health and environment with Jacksonville, Fla.-based CSX Transportation until March 2017, according to his LinkedIn page. A 40...

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday it plans to meet on Dec. 12, 2017 in Washington to determine the probable cause of the October 2015 sinking of the El Faro in the Atlantic Ocean, which resulted in the loss of all 33 crewmembers on board. The 790-foot cargo ship operated on TOTE Maritime’s service between Jacksonville, Fla. and San. Juan, Puerto Rico. It set sail from Jacksonville on Sept. 29, 2015 and was last heard from on Oct. 1, 2015 a...

U.S. Transportation Security Administration has implemented enhanced security screenings for Turkish air cargo. New security directives for enhanced screening of cargo from Turkey have been implemented by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as of Sept. 7, the administration announced. According to TSA, the enhanced screening directives are “to adequately address emerging threats to cargo and raise the baseline for global aviation security," as “cargo flying to...

The U.S. Transportation Department’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a $54,000 civil penalty against Interscience of Saint-Nom-la-Breteche, France, for allegedly violating federal hazardous materials transport regulations. The FAA alleges that on Dec. 21, 2016, Interscience offered six plastic bottles of flammable liquid disinfectant spray to American Airlines for air cargo transport from Blagnac, France, to Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Workers at the American cargo fa...

The U.S. House of Representatives last Wednesday voted down an amendment to delay the implementation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) electronic logging device (ELD) mandate. The amendment, H.Amdt.303 to H.R.3354 , was introduced by Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, but was rejected in the House by a vote of 173-246. The ELD mandate is scheduled to take effect Dec. 18, 2017, and requires ELDs to be installed on all interstate commercial vehicles...

U.S. Southeast ports are bracing for Hurricane Irma as the mega-storm moves through the Caribbean, gradually making its way closer to the southern tip of Florida. As of 11:00 a.m. eastern standard time, Hurricane Irma was 270 miles east of Caibarien, Cuba, moving WNW at 14 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. Irma’s center is expected to reach South Florida around 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Alt...

The chief executive officer of Woodside, N.Y.-based Global Metallurgy, Erdal Kuyumcu, was sentenced to 57 months in prison following his June 14, 2016 guilty plea to conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by exporting specialty metals from the United States to Iran, the Justice Department said. Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana J. Boentes said the executive is “being held accountable for conspiring with others to ...

Ports in the Caribbean and southeastern United States are bracing for Hurricane Irma, as the category 5 storm wreaks havoc on the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. As of 11:00 a.m. eastern standard time, the hurricane’s center was just east of Puerto Rico, moving WNW at 16 mph with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. By Sunday, the center of Irma may be very close to South Florida. Consequently, the ...

One post-Brexit customs proposal involves eliminating all border checks for imports and exports. The U.K. government has proposed a customs arrangement with the European Union (EU) that may eliminate the need for border checks on imports and exports after Brexit, the Wall street Journal reported. This borderless customs idea is unprecedented in international trade and Britain has developed a two-stage approach to achieve the proposed arrangement with the EU. The fi...

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) have withdrawn a March 10, 2016 advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) that would have mandated testing commercial truck drivers and train engineers for obstructive sleep apnea, the FMCSA said in a recent statement. The move has caused quite an uproar, however, including U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., demanding that the government get the national sle...

The master of a multi-purpose cargo vessel was arrested on Friday in New Zealand for exceeding the alcohol limit for a seafarer, according to Maritime New Zealand, the country’s marine safety, security and environmental protection agency. Anthony Michael Baker, the captain of the Shansi , was fined NZD $3,000 (U.S. $2,205) by the Whangarei District Court. The Maritime Transport Act limit is 250 micrograms of alcohol per liter of breath, and he blew a test of 1,345 m...

U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., introduced legislation last Friday that aims to "increase security and cut down wait times at ports of entry," according to a statement from McSally's office. Co-sponsors of the bill (H.R. 3551), which reauthorizes the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program for the first time in its 11-year existence, include Reps David Reichert, R-Wash.; Michael McCaul, R-Texas; Peter King, R-N.Y.; Will Hurd, R-Texas; and Thomas Garrett, ...

The air cargo industry is urging Capitol Hill lawmakers to keep up pressure on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to expand its freight screening capabilities through the use of third-party explosive detection canine teams. “The technology to screen freight in a manner consistent with the operational needs of the industry simply does not today exist,” said Stephen Alterman, president of the Cargo Airline Association, in testimony before the House Homeland Security ...

The concept of automated trucks operating on roads and highways across the United States is nothing new at this point, but the still-emerging technology has significant regulatory roadblocks to overcome before it can truly kick into high gear. At a recent "Talking Freight" seminar hosted by Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Freight Management and Operations and the Office of Planning, industry experts talked about the various benefits and challenges associated with self...

Four men were discovered hiding in a shipping container aboard the OOCL Montreal at the Port of Montreal in Canada on Thursday. Canadian authorities are treating it as a case of illegal entry, said officials. Local media reports say the men are from the country of Georgia, formerly part of the Soviet republic, and other than dehydration, did not suffer any injuries on their journey to Canada. “The incident involving the four stowaways found in a container on the OOC...

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) is launching a multi-part audit to address concerns about oversight of federal funding or financing for positive train control (PTC) projects and recipients’ use of the funds, OIG said in a statement. A review was requested in May by Sen. John Thune, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. PTC is a wireless communication system that can prevent an accident by...

The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) earlier this week published preliminary findings that gave recommendations on reforming the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Compliance, Safety and Accountability (CSA) program . The CSA program is designed to improve safety and prevent commercial motor vehicle crashes, injuries and fatalities, according to the FMCSA. The program is comprised of three main components: the safety measurement sy...